Happy Halloween

The kids pumpkins they carved. From Left to right carved by: Sarah, Adam, Jack and Grace (with the help of daddy of course)

Costumes

Sarah the beautiful cheerleader!
Adam the crime fighting Batman!
Jack the "bone-man" skeleton!
Grace the cute U of M cheerleader!
My sweet cheerleaders!!

Fall?

You would've never guessed it was Fall here yesterday had it not been for all these beautiful colored leaves. It was in the mid to upper 70's yesterday and just beautiful. The air felt wonderful, but like a warm Fall season which is weird for October. I hope this means our real Fall weather will be extended before the cold snowy winter sets in. I guess I shouldn't complain about warm weather since we'll have plenty of cold here pretty soon. It feels more like Fall today. These pictures are from our tree in the front yard. I love the Fall colors, but I wish the camera could really catch the color in full detail, they are much prettier in person.

Broken Bone

This time instead of Jack or Dan breaking something it was Sarah. We were at Bible study at a friends house on Sunday and Sarah and her friends were playing a game, as she was going down the stairs she tripped over herself, stubbing her big toe. Well, I guess she actually stepped on her big toe if you can imagine that, it kinda curled under her foot as she stepped down. Anyway, I brushed the injury off as just a strain and told her she would be fine the next day. She wasn't fine, but went to school on Monday as usual, limping. When she got home and was still complaining I took a look and discovered a bruised and swollen big toe so when Dan got home I took her Urgent Care (not a first choice place, but our only option). The x-rays revealed a broken toe with an official diagnosis of: "Nondisplaced Salter II fracture in distal phalanx of the right great toe." She has to wear a special boot/shoe to keep her toe from getting re-injured since the part she broke is on her growth plate but since it wasn't displaced it was a clean break she should heal nicely in about 3 weeks.

Pumpkin belly...

Well, here is my latest belly shot. I am 35 weeks and have gained 30 pounds so far. I think my iron is still low because I have been feeling winded lately. I'll get it checked next week. Only 5 more weeks left. The count down begins... I threw in a couple bare skinned shots for those of you wanting to see raw belly. LOL *winking to my sis* Sorry if you feel you've been blinded by my bright white stretched out belly skin. LOL

See any resemblence here?

We thought it would be fun to pose with pictures we thought best resembled us~
See why we had so much fun?
This pumpkin was really heavy so it totally felt like me! LOL

Pumpkin Picking

We took the kids to a local Orchard this weekend and rode the tractor, picked out pumpkins, had cinnamon sugar pumpkin donuts and apple cider, and took home a peck of HoneyCrisp Apples (the best apples). We had the kids pick out pumpkins that best resembled them by size, so Sarah's was the biggest since she is the oldest and Grace was the smallest since she is the youngest. We had fun!

Fire Station Open House

I think he would make a wonderful fireman, don't you?
Same here, who wouldn't want to be rescued by these two fine looking boys!!

The Fire Station two blocks behind our house holds and annual Open House for fire safety week. This is the second time we've gone. The last time, Jack was not even two years old. Things sure change as they get older though, can you tell Sarah was not too thrilled about posing for the picture with the hat on. I think she was alittle embarrassed! Last time we went she couldn't get enough, this time only the boys were having a good time.

My big girl...

Being alittle camera shy like her daddy, Grace was trying to pose for her big girl picture. I didn't think it appropriate to take a picture of her in her "big girl underwear" to post for all to see, but that is the reason for this post. My little Gracie girl is potty trained. Sure I know there will be occasional accidents, but for the most part and I mean the most part, she is potty trained. She wears underwear all day long, to church and even when we go to town. She only wears pull-ups at night and lately she stays dry then too. She even wears underwear for nap time. She will turn 2 next month and seeing how the new baby is also due next month I will consider her potty trained "just in time" which makes me happy not to have to change two diapers, YIPEE!
What a big girl you are Grace!

Crazy!?!

Have you ever awoke from a dream in the middle of the night either quoting out loud or in your head what was going on in your dream? Well I have, twice in one night. Not quite sure now if it was the same dream or not. I don't really remember exactly what was going on in my dream but here is what I said, in my head as I was waking up at 2am the other morning...

Quote #1: "Yeah well a screaming midget just drove off with my suburban!"
* First of all... I don't even own a surburban, and second...a midget? (no offense to little people)

Quote #2: "There's a cook's kettle in the garage...let's have a BBQ!"
* Yeah...I am pretty sure you can't have a BBQ with a kettle in the garage, and what the heck is a cook's kettle anyway?

And also, who was I talking to..both times?

I am going to blame this on strange pregnancy hormones like the poor mans PB&J sandwiches, which I still serve on a daily basis! Hey, I like PB&J...well sometimes.


**This blog was dedicated to my sis over at Beautiful Girlhood, she complained that I hadn't blogged in awhile, so here ya go...I hope you're ROFLing right now!! :D
Oh and now it's your turn to update your blog, TAG, you're it!

Let your Yes be Yes and your No be No

Jack: "Mom, does 'maybe later' really mean NO?"

Me: "Uh ..."

Strange pregnancy hormones?

Well, it's lunch time and I served Jack and Grace's favorite dish....peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They were both so excited, even jumping up and down for this scrumptious dish, but as I watched Grace take a bite of her sandwich, I almost burst into tears!?! You see I was instantly overcome with the thought of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich as being a "poor man's food". Why? I don't know but I felt so sorry for her because she was enjoying it so much. I even gave them their own bag of chips to try and make myself feel better for serving this sad meal. I only felt better when I let them have a sip of my soda! LOL Crazy huh? I guess I have the pregnancy hormones to thank for this sorrowful experience.

Cool video

http://www.childdrowningprevention.com/index.html

I received this video in an email from my uncle in California. This will definetly tear at your heart strings. I cried when I first saw it but it isn't sad. This is a very cool video and something I want to teach my children.

*Just so you know, no children die in this video. It shows children who are trained to save themselves from drowning. It really is a cool video and you will be left smiling at the end. It is amazing that children as young as 6 months can learn these techniques and save themselves.

Hartwick Pines

Sarah and Adam got out of school about an hour early yesterday so we could meet their grandpa, who was in Michigan on business, at Hartwick Pines for a short visit. We got stuck in a rain storm with thunder and lightening which was really cool! I wish we could have stayed and walked around the park longer, but time and the storm prevented us from doing so. We ate dinner at a nice local resturant and Grace stayed dry the entire day. She even told me she had to go to the "baffroom" whenever she needed to go. She is doing really well with the whole potty training stuff. I know there will still be ups and downs. So far she has had a few potty accidents but no poop accidents! I think making it to the "baffroom" before she starts going potty will be the hardest part. So far so good though! She is a fast learner and was definetly ready to train.
This is a picture that Sarah took of Grace the other day while playing photographer. This was her studio and she dressed Grace up and took several poses. This one was the best!

• On another note: I got my "black" cherry mole removed this morning. The doctor said he could tell by looking at it that it wasn't cancerous. Good the hear, but they are sending it to the lab to double check. He didn't stitch it up so there is a hugh hole there. Hopefully it heals quickly. It's pretty nasty looking so I thought I would spare you the ugly picture.
  

Accomplishments...

• I went to the dentist for the first time in over 11 years...the damage was.....only two small cavities! I was so scared to go because it had been so long I thought they were going to tell me that my teeth were rotting out of my head, but they said I have nice teeth and to continue brushing like I do and start flossing. The flossing should prevent any other cavaties from forming. The two cavaties that I have to get filled in a few weeks are in between my teeth, which makes sense because I don't usually floss. I guess I will start flossing and take care of my teeth from here on out and visit the dentist regularly like I should.
• I bought tons of clothes for my kids at Goodwill today and spent less then $47 for everything. I completely filled my washing machine with the clothes I bought. If I had purchased anything at full price for a total of $47 it would probably have been only a few items. I was excited about how many things I got for the money.
• Grace went poop and potty on the toilet twice today. She is wearing big girl underwear right now and has been dry for the past few hours. When I got back from my dental appt. and shopping spree at Goodwill with Amie, Dan told me she pooped and she has been going on the toilet since then. We'll see how it goes! So far so good!! Maybe she will be completely potty trained by the time the new baby arrives.

Happy Tidbits...

• My ultrasound report revealed a completely resolved subchorionic hemorrhage.
• I am no longer considered high risk anymore.
• I am getting my "black" cherry mole removed next Wednesday, hopefully unless it is more invasive and will take longer to remove.
• Sarah and Adam are enjoying school, even waking up on their own at 6:45 am to start getting ready for school.
• Jack is enjoying learning to read and write while Sarah and Adam are at school, and Grace loves to watch him.
• Baby boy is growing nicely and is only in the 35 percentile for size, which hopefully means he will be on the smaller side, compared to Jack anyway.
• We think we've narrowed down the name choices for this little guy, but will be keeping it a secret until he is born in case we change our minds. Plus it is excited to have something to look forward to since we already know he is a boy.

Back to School

Today was the first day of school for Sarah, entering 3rd grade and Adam, entering 1st grade. I can't believe summer is already over. Today is only a half day but tomorrow and from then on they will both be gone full days everyday Mon-Fri. until Thanksgiving break and by then I will have a new baby in the house, well hopefully if I don't go too much overdue.

It's funny how differently they are dressed in this picture. I let them pick out what they wanted to wear today so Adam looks like he is ready for a winter day while Sarah looks dressed for summer warmth. It's not really cool out despite they way Adam looks. He would wear this shirt everyday if you let him. He wore it a couple of time this summer in 90 degree heat! LOL Can you tell it's his favorite shirt?

Camping...

We camped at Platte River Campground for Labor Day weekend and it was so much fun. We got the very last site and it was a walk-in site so we had to park and carry all our stuff to the site. That was the worst part because we had the second farthest campsite, but it was still so much fun. We camped for 4 days and we went tubing down the Platte River and played in Lake Michigan. Tomorrow the kids start school so this was the last "vacation" we will get for awhile.

Updated Bullets...plus some

• Well, I passed my 3 hr glucose test which is really awesome. I only needed to pass two of the four draws and I passed all four of them. This is a huge relief for me.


• My doctor looked at my "black" cherry mole and is referring me to a dermatologist because he didn't have the right equipment to control the bleeding, and it would bleed because it is a blood vessel. He said the dermatologist has a special tool they use to remove, cauterize and do the bioposy at the same time. So now I must wait for the appt to arrive. I don't have it set up as of yet, but they are working on getting me in as soon as possible. My doctor said because of my being pregnant and anytime a mole changes in anyway it is always good to have it removed sooner then later.


• I finally got a 3D ultrasound. It was so awesome to see him like that. The tech said she didn't see the membrane for the hemorrhage but I will have to wait for the full report from the radiologist to know for sure. So far the mid-wife hasn't gotten that report yet. I see her next Wednesday so hopefully she will have good news for me then. He measured right on so hopefully that means I won't have another big baby like Jack.


• Sarah and Adam have an open house tomorrow at school and find out which class they will be in and who their teachers will be. They are excited about starting school, their first day is Tuesday, September 4th (half day). I can't believe summer break is already over.


• A nice lady who is the neighbor of a co-worker at my mom's work gave me a huge garbage bag full of baby boy clothes. I can tell they have hardly been used and some even had the price tags still on. They are so cute. She tried to sell them in a garage sale and when that didn't work she just wanted to get rid of them so she gave them all to me, FREE! I am so excited. Between the bag I got from her and the bag I got from Amie, I think this little guy will be set for quite awhile. Thanks ladies!!
• There is a couple at our church who write and illustrate children's books. This past Sunday they approached us at church and asked if Jack could be in their next book. It is already written so she just needed to do the illustrations. I went to their house today for a photoshoot with Jack. He did a great job posing. She will be painting the pages all winter and sometime in the Spring the book will go to publish so as soon as it does I will let you all know which book it is and which page Jack is on so you can check it out. We feel very honored to have Jack be in one of their books. She mentioned having more books coming and that our kids were cute so who knows maybe they will all get a page in a book. I can't wait to see Jack as a character.

Here are the 3D pics as promised.

Gone fishing...

Check out the salmon Dan caught. WOW! I said I was hungry for some fish and wanted to eat salmon so Dan went out and catch me some salmon! Guess what we're having for dinner tonight!!